This section contains the latest news from the Field Unit, as and
when it occurs. New sections are added as and when to show the
progress the Field Unit are making during the year.
* Original Information 30th March 2018
* Added 11th June 2018
* Added 24th August 2018
* Added 19th November 2018
BHAS Post Excavation 2017/2018
There have been a number of finds processing days over the winter
period. Finds from the excavations at Ovingdean were washed at the
premises of the professional unit Archaeology South East (ASE) who
once again kindly opened their doors to us. We had several visit to
their site for finds washing and this also included finds from some
field walking conducted at Perching. There were 3 other finds
processing days held at the Patcham Community Centre where finds were
sorted into their various catagories, and later marked after washing.
All of these events were well supported by the membership.
Winter Walks
There have been a number of winter walks to places of archaeological
interest. The first was a popular walk around Stanmer where we
visited a number of locations. BHAS have excavated in Stanmer on a
number of occasions, and we visited Pudding Bag Wood and Stanmer
Great Wood where a couple of cross ridge dykes were investigated, and
to our Romano-British site at Rocky Clump and the medieval enclosure
at Patchway Field. There was also a visit to the Stanmer Water
catchment, and a number of other locations. A second walk visited the
Devil's Dyke where excavations took place in 1936. The walk then
continued across the Downs to the medieval settlement at Upper
Perching. We almost visited the Motte and Bailey fort at Truleigh
Hill, unfortunately the weather closed in and prevented this. A full
programme of summer walks is being organised and these will be
published in a future website update.
BHAS Field Work
During the earlier months of 2018 the BHAS Field Unit conducted some
field walking at Perching, on a field just to the west of Fulking. It
was a large field and the northern section had the potential for
finding Palaeolithic material. The walking did produce some flint
work, and medieval pottery, and the finds are currently being
processed prior to the creation of dot density diagrams. The diagrams
may reveal concentrations of finds indicating potential sites for
future investigation. One observation was the vast amount of plastic
now scattered across these fields.
Watching Brief at Beacon Hill
During February and when the snow was arriving BHAS conducted a
watching brief on a water pipeline trench being excavated along the
east side of Beacon Hill. The trench was not very wide, but a number
of geophysical surveys conducted over the past decade have revealed a
number of interesting anomalies. Sadly the watching brief produced no
sign of any features and the only finds were of modern brick and tile.
Excavations at Rocky Clump
The Brighton and Hove Archaeological Society will
be returning to Rocky Clump on Saturday 14th April. This season we
will be investigating the east end of a large ditched enclosure. This
is the entrance to this late Iron Age or early Romano-British
enclosure, other areas inside of the enclosure will also be examined.
A flint wall was found during the last season and it would be
interesting to see if we can find a building. There will be training
available, but anyone is welcome whatever their experience. The
excavations will be led by the new Archaeological Secretary Pete Tolhurst.
Excavations at Rocky Clump 2018
Digging at Rocky Clump, Stanmer, near Brighton
commenced on April 14th 2018. An area has been stripped by machine,
but additional areas may also be opened up if required. This season
we will be examining the interior of a late Iron Age enclosure with a
complicated entrance at the east end, defined by off-set ditches.
The ditches found in previous seasons have been
quite substantial, about 2-3 metres wide and nearly 2 metres in
depth. The ditches have produced numerous finds of pottery, many
sherds with the delightful raised eye-brow decoration, bone and other
special finds including a nice silver finger ring. The object of this
season's activities is to seek out and determine evidence for any
activity within the enclosure. The past excavations have produced
small and ephemeral flint 'wall' footings. We do know that there is
no large Roman villa, but it is perhaps more interesting as it is a
site of probably members of the local indigenous population. The
excavation may reveal how lower status people survived and lived in
this part of Sussex.
At present the excavations has revealed some of
the ditches, known from geophysics and past excavation, and
additional post holes focused around, and outside of, the enclosure
entrance. We do know of an enclosure near Chichester that had a round
house at the entrance to an enclosure and revealed evidence for metal
working. It is possible that something similar may be found at Stanmer.
You will need to be a member to participate,
which is £15 full or £7.50p student, and are advised to
have a current tetanus. You can join via the website www.brightonarch.org.uk
or come along to an event and fill in an application form.
You will need to bring sun factor and wet gear,
as the site is exposed and you can get wet, and please bring
refreshments. We supply tools and training. You can try your hand at
anything within our archaeological resources.
We generally work on Saturdays and Wednesdays.
We meet at 10-00am at the Upper Lodge car park, and we finish on site
at 4-30pm.
We can send you location details if you have
your own transport, or will endeavour to pick you up at various
locations if you are coming by bus or train.
The BHAS field unit is open to anyone with an
interest in archaeology, no previous experience is required, all
training will be given. For further details apply to the membership
section or contact either Pete Tolhurst at archsec@brightonarch.org.uk
or John Funnell at co-ordinator@brightonarch.org.uk
for more details
Excavations at Rocky Clump July 2018
The excavations are progressing well with a
large central area already opened up. The new area has revealed a
large section of a ditch which runs from east to west and forms the
north side of a large rectangular enclosure. The 2018 season was
planned to investigate the east end of the enclosure where an
entrance appears to be suggested by geophysical results. The main
area was stripped by machine and has revealed not one but two ditches
running north to south. The ditches are only spaced about 1 metre
apart so it is unlikely that they were being used at the same time.
The excavations have also revealed a central
east/west ditch which appears to have a break at the east end, this
could be a possible entrance into the enclosure. A lower east west
ditch, has been found at the east end of the enclosure, but here it
is only about 1.2 metres in width compared to over 2 metres at the
other end.
The interior of the enclosure contains a number
of pits. Inside on of these pits there is a complex arrangement of
stakes holes, and a flint and chalk packed post hole. One of the
ditches also curves around into another feature. There are other post
holes, and a collection of stake holes in a rectangular
configuration, which could be for enclosing animals. One of the
elongated pits contained a large metal object, but it will need to be
x-rayed to find out its identification.
At the south side of the enclosure is a small
flint 'wall' or a linear arrangement of flints. This is a
continuation of a line of flints found in earlier seasons. Another
line of flints runs parallel to this one, so it could be that we have
the simple footing for a timber framed building. There is still a
quantity of top soil to be removed from the enclosure interior, so
other features may come to light as the dig progresses.
There has been an interesting collection of
finds this season including as number of Roman coins. There has been
plenty of animal bone and oyster shells from out of the ditches, and
the pottery contains a good collection of late Iron Age sherds
including some with the 'raised eyebrow' decoration, and some with a
thumbed band applied.
The 20918 season of digging will continue until
either late September or early October. The excavation is open to
anyone, even those without experience.
You will need to be a member to participate,
which is £15 full or £7.50p student, and are advised to
have a current tetanus. You can join via the website
www.brightonarch.org.uk or come along to an event and fill in an
application form.
The season at Rocky Clump finished on Saturday
20th October on yet another lovely warm and sunny day. It has been a
brilliant season with great support and over 60 people coming along
to dig. This year we have had a good number of younger people along
all looking towards university placements, and keen to become
actively involved. Our new site director is Pete Tolhurst, and he is
also our training officer, and he is keen to have everyone having a
go at using our equipment. This year the total station has been out
and in full use throughout the season. A good number of the team have
been keen to learn how to use this machine. There has also been
tuition in section drawing, soil identification and recording, and
the filling in and use of context sheets.
It was known that we had an enclosure
consisting of ditches measuring up to 3 metres in width, and nearly 2
metres in depth at places. The excavation area was partially stripped
by machine in April, but only about a third of the site. A great deal
of de-turfing and hand digging also took place this season, but this
produced potential features that might have been lost if total
stripping had taken place.
The upper east/west ditch was divided into
sections and these were excavated. These sections produced a large
quantity of finds, including pottery and bone. The pottery looks very
early and is probably Late Iron Age in date, with some nice decorated
pieces. The bone was mainly butchered animal bone. A number of coins
were recovered most being barbarous radiates but there was also a
very well preserved Sestertius. A large copper ally ring was also
recovered from the upper ditch fill.
The lower east/west ditch and the middle
east/west ditch had test pits cut to locate them, and a number of
small sections were cut. The lower east/west ditch produced a number
of animal bones including cattle mandibles. The middle east/west
ditch has a much wider bottomed than the others, and the fill is a
mixture of clay and daub with large flint nodules. It is completely
different to the other ditch fills.
The upper and lower ditches continue eastwards
but there is an east end to the enclosure. The geophysics shows 2
ditches at the east end, one coming down from the north, which is
quite a shallow feature, but full of pottery, while the ditch coming
up from the south is much deeper and wider. It is now obvious that
both ditches could not have been in use at the same time, as the gap
between them is much too small.
The central area had a linear arrangement of
flints that hint at some shallow flint foundation for a possible
structure. At the east end though was the most interesting collection
of features. To the west of the north/south boundary ditches were 4
very large post holes. The only conclusion is that these are the post
for a very large timber granary. Immediately to the east of the
granary was a very deep pit that can only be the location of a grain
storage pit. This is an early feature, the pit being cut by the later
boundary ditch.
The most poignant finds of the season were the
finding of another 2 baby burials. This brings the total of babies
found inside the enclosure to 4. We are hoping that if the human
remains from the cemetery in the trees are located then possible DNA
samples may be forthcoming linking the babies with one of the adults
buried in the trees. It is now almost certain that the enclosure was
created for the storage and protection of their grain harvest. The
Iron Age was a fearsome and turbulent period.
The site was photographed using a drone in
September. The images produced clearly show the four posts of the
granary structure, and the adjacent grain storage pit to the east.
The features and finds this season have been
quite prolific. It is now time to move indoors and begin the post
excavation during the winter months. There is plenty of pot and bone
washing required and after Christmas there will be finds marking, and
the educational day schools.
BHAS have a full winter programme with lectures,
finds processing, day schools and walks or visits to places of interest.
The BHAS field unit is open to anyone with an interest in
archaeology, no previous experience is required, all training will be
given. For further details apply to the membership section or contact
either Pete Tolhurst at archsec@brightonarch.org.uk
or John Funnell at co-ordinator@brightonarch.org.uk
for more details
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